Features

Bring Home the Magic of Music

The affordable choice for song recording and playback. The PSR-280 has a built-in 6-track sequencer and is fully General MIDI compatible. It's also equipped with a dynamic filter and digital effects.

Yamaha portable keyboards put musical creativity at your fingertips

The Yamaha lineup of portable electronic keyboards is a musician's dream come true, giving you the power to sound exactly the way you want. It starts with a new level of instrument realism thanks to a larger sample ROM. And what does that mean? Simply put, a more realistic digital sample of an instrument almost always requires a larger digital sample. So by increasing the size of the sample memory, Yamaha is able to give you even more realistic instrument voices. And you get so many of them on the constantly growing extension of General MIDI (GM) called XG. Not only do you get full compatibility with GM; you get hundreds of extra voices as well as full MIDI control of voice and effects parameters.

A fun-tastic way to discover the exciting world of music

Yamaha's entry-level Yamaha Portable Keyboard line offers incredible features and performance at an affordable price. Newly developed Yamaha Education Suite ™, a wonderful set of music training functions make learning music incredibly easy. And when it's time to take a break from practicing, simply place the keyboard in DJ mode and let the fun begin with awesome dance voices and accompaniment styles and even a DJ game!

Portable Grand™

When you just want to sit down and play the piano, the PORTABLE GRAND function immediately changes your Yamaha Portable Keyboard to a piano.

Stereo Sampled Grand Piano Voice

Pressing the PORTABLE GRAND button calls up a special Stereo Sampled Grand piano voice, stunningly rich and authentic in its sound, and exceptionally responsive to your playing touch!

Instant Piano Play

Portable Grand automatically configures the entire instrument to settings that best suit the Grand Piano voice. This means that no matter what operations or function the Yamaha Portable Keyboard is set to, the Portable Grand is just a button touch away!

Pianist Styles

These Yamaha portable keyboards also include a wealth of special piano-only "Pianist" styles. These provide professional-sounding piano accompaniment, changing chords automatically as you do, while you play a piano melody on top!

For a demonstration of "What is a Style", click here (1.3MB download - requires Macromedia Flash and computer sound).

Yamaha Education Suite (Y.E.S. 2)

A unique set of tutorial functions makes it easy for anyone to learn to play the keyboard. Seven types of lessons are available as well as a convenient chord dictionary.

Three keyboard lessons for each hand
Timing mode: You can play melody or chord by pressing any key using the correct timing.
Waiting mode: Playback pauses until you play the correct chord or melody note.
Minus One mode: Mute the left-hand, right-hand, or both parts of a song and play along nonstop.

Lesson Grading — monitors your progress as you practice each lesson.

Chord Dictionary — shows you how to play chords and tells you which chords you are playing by displaying the notes on the LCD screen.

DJ Mode — One press of the DJ button calls up a full arsenal of contemporary dance voices and style patterns, as well as special DJ songs and games.

Dynamic Filter — Dynamically controls the timbre or tone of a voice according to your playing strength, just like a real acoustic instrument!

Touch Response — Your playing can be as expressive as on an acoustic instrument.

Reverb — Add the ambience of a variety of different-sized rooms and halls to your music for an extra dimension of richness.

2-Way Speaker System — Separate tweeters deliver high frequency sounds with clarity and precision for more lifelike instrument voices.

Bass Boost System — A special port on each speaker adds a powerful impact to bass sound reproduction.

Song Recording — 6-Track Recorder: Compose your own songs by overdubbing chords and melodies. One track can be used to record an accompaniment style.

One Touch Setting — This function automatically configures keyboard parameters, such as voice selection and tempo, to match the selected music style.

32-note Polyphony — Up to 32 notes can be reproduced simultaneously for intricate musical arrangements.